Method and apparatuses for offline selection of pay-per-call advertisers

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls resulting from advertisements for groups of advertisers. In one embodiment, a method includes: determining a geographic area after receiving a telephone call to a first telephone number publicized in an advertisement; determining a telephone number of a first advertiser; and connecting the telephone call to the telephone number of the first advertiser, the first advertiser billed for the advertisement based on telephonic connections made to connect the first advertiser and telephone calls to the first telephone number.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present patent application is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/062,425 filed Apr. 3, 2008, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/092,309, filed Mar.28, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of the following patentapplications: 1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,073, filed Dec.15, 2004; 2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/872,117, filed Jun. 17,2004, which claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/552,124, filed Mar. 10, 2004; and 3) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/021,939, filed Dec. 23, 2004, which is a continuation-inpart of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/679,982, filed Oct. 6, 2003.In addition, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/092,309 claims priorityfrom Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/568,156, filed May4, 2004, Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/560,926, filedApr. 9, 2004, and Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No.60/653,660, filed Feb. 16, 2005. All the above-referenced applicationsare incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

At least some embodiments of the present invention relate to telephonicconnections and advertising in general and performance-based advertisingin particular.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telephone systems allow users to conduct real time two-way voicecommunication. Traditional land-line based telephone systems connect onetelephone set to another through one or more switching centers, operatedby one or more telephone companies, over a land-line based telephonenetwork. Traditionally, a telephone connection is based on a circuitswitched network.

Current telephone systems may also use a package switched network for atelephone connection. A package switched network is typical in acomputer data environment. Recent developments in the field of Voiceover IP (VoIP) allow the delivery of voice information using theInternet Protocol (IP), in which voice information is packaged in adigital form in discrete packets rather than in the traditionalcircuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network(PSTN).

Cellular networks allow a cellular phone to connect to a nearby cellularbase station through an air interface for wireless access to a telephonenetwork. Recent developments in wireless telephone systems allow notonly voice communications but also data communications. For example,cellular phones can now receive and send short messages through a ShortMessage Service (SMS). Web pages can now be retrieved through wirelesscellular links and displayed on cellular phones. Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP) has been developed to overcome the constraints ofrelatively slow and intermittent nature of wireless links to accessinformation similar or identical to World Wide Web.

Telephone companies provide a number of convenient features, such ascall forwarding. Call forwarding of a telephone system allows a user ofa phone at a given phone number to dial a specific sequence on the phoneto cause the telephone system to forward incoming calls addressed to thephone number to another specified phone number indicated by the dialedsequence.

Telephone systems are frequently used in conducting business. Telephonenumbers are typically provided in advertisements, web sites,directories, etc., as a type of contact information to reach businesses,experts, persons, etc.

The Internet is becoming an advertisement media to reach globallypopulated web users. Advertisements can be included in a web page thatis frequently visited by web users. Typically, the advertisementsincluded in the web pages contain only a limited amount of information(e.g., a small paragraph, an icon, etc.). The advertisements containlinks to the web sites that provide further detailed information. Incertain arrangements, the advertisers pay the advertisements based onthe number of visits directed to their web sites by the links of theadvertisements.

Performance based advertising generally refers to a type of advertisingin which an advertiser pays only for a measurable event that is a directresult of an advertisement being viewed by a consumer. For example, paidinclusion advertising is a form of performance-based search advertising.With paid inclusion advertising, an advertisement is included within asearch result page of a key word search. Each selection (“click”) of theadvertisement from the results page is the measurable event for whichthe advertiser pays. In other words, payment by the advertiser is on aper click basis.

Another form of performance-based advertising includes paid placementadvertising. Paid placement advertising is similar to paid inclusionadvertising in that payment is on a per click basis. However, with paidplacement advertising an advertiser ranks a particular advertisement sothat it appears or is placed at a particular spot, e.g., at the top of asearch engine result page, thereby to increase the odds of theadvertisement being selected.

Both forms of performance-based advertising, i.e., paid placement andpaid inclusion, suffer from the limitation that an advertiser orparticipant within a paid placement or paid inclusion advertisingprogram is required to have a web presence, in the form of a web page.However, there are advertisers that either (a) do not have web pages, or(b) have web pages that are not effective at capturing the value of aweb visitor, and are therefore unable, or unwilling, to participate inthe traditional performance-based advertising, as described above.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track informationabout the telephone calls resulting from advertisements for groups ofadvertisers are described here. In one embodiment, a method includes:determining a geographic area after receiving a telephone call to afirst telephone number publicized in an advertisement; determining atelephone number of a first advertiser; and connecting the telephonecall to the telephone number of the first advertiser, the firstadvertiser billed for the advertisement based on telephonic connectionsmade to connect the first advertiser and telephone calls to the firsttelephone number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows how clients and advertisers interact with each other usinga paid placement, or a paid inclusion advertising model, in accordancewith the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows an interaction between clients and advertisers, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of operations performed in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a high level functional description of a system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the Account Creation and Management module of thesystem, in greater detail;

FIG. 6 illustrates the Advertisement Publication Module of the system,in greater detail;

FIG. 7 illustrates the Call Handling Module of the system, in greaterdetail;

FIG. 8A shows an example of a user interface that may be presented to auser during advertisement creation, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8B shows a campaign management interface that is presented to auser, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a search engine result page, which includesan advertisement generated, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 shows an example of an email alert that is sent to anadvertiser, when a call is generated, in accordance with one embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a high level hardware block diagram of a system that maybe used to implement the system, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIGS. 12-18 describe processes in accordance with embodiments of theinvention to track/credit demand partners;

FIG. 19 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 shows a diagram of a system to make offline selection ofadvertisers according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 shows a diagram of a telephone connection system for offlineselection of advertisers according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 22-24 show flow diagrams of making and tracking phone connectionsaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the description. It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates how clients and advertisers interactwith each other in accordance with the paid placement, and paidinclusion advertising models of the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, anumber of clients indicated by reference numeral 10 are coupled to awide area network (WAN) 14, such as the Internet via a communicationspath 12. Advertisers 16 are coupled to the WAN 14 via a communicationspath 18. The communications paths 12 and 18 may support the TCP/IPprotocols, in one embodiment. Each advertiser 16 has a web page 20 whichin accordance with the paid placement, and paid inclusion advertisingmodels described above, may be included in a results page of a key wordsearch initiated by a user of a client 10, which search is performed byan online search engine 19. Based on the paid placement, or the paidinclusion models, the web page 20 of an advertiser 16 is included withina results page compiled by the search engine 19 and sent via thecommunications path 12 to the client 10 that initiated the search, sothat the web page 20 may be selected or viewed by a user of the client10 that requested the search. As noted above, if an advertiser 16 doesnot have a web page 20, or does not have a web page 20 that is effectiveat capturing the value of a web visitor, then currently, such anadvertiser may not participate, or effectively participate, inperformance-based marketing such as paid placement, and paid inclusionprograms.

Further, the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to publishingor providing advertisements for the advertisers 16 through web pages.Thus, in alternative embodiments, the unique telephone number assignedto an advertiser may be published or provided using a directory withoutthe creation of a web page for the advertiser. The directory may be anexisting directory or a new directory. The placement or ranking of thetelephone number within the directory may be controlled through rankingtechniques described below.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a method for allowingadvertisers to participate in a pay per call advertising program,without requiring that the advertisers have a web presence, inaccordance with one embodiment, is illustrated. As will be seen, theclients 10 are coupled to the WAN 14 via the communications path 12, asbefore. However, the communications path 18 between the advertisers 16and the WAN 14 is purely optional. In other words, the techniques of thepresent invention, allow an advertiser 16 to participate in aperformance-based advertising program without the requirement that theadvertiser 16 be coupled to the WAN 14 via the communications path 18.In fact, in accordance with the techniques disclosed herein, it is notnecessary that the advertisers 16 have web pages 20. Instead, inaccordance with the techniques disclosed herein, an alternative non-webbased communications path 22 is provided between the clients 10 and theadvertisers 16. According to embodiments of the present invention, thenon-web based communications path 22 may be provided by a conventionaltelephone network. Alternatively, the non-web based communications path22 may utilize Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to couplea client through switches of the network 14, and switches of a publictelephone network, in a manner that does not require the advertisers 16to have a connection to the network 14. In addition, the advertisercould be notified via other media channels, such as email, chat, instantmessage, etc.

FIG. 3 of the drawings illustrates a technique to establish the non-webbased communications path 22 of FIG. 2, in accordance with oneembodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, at block 26, a unique telephone numberis assigned to an advertiser 16. Thereafter, at block 28, anadvertisement associated with the advertiser 16 is provisioned orpublished on a publication or media channel on behalf of the advertiser.The advertisement includes either the unique telephone number, or areference to the unique telephone number. At block 30, telephone callsto the unique telephone number are monitored, as will be described. Atblock 32, the advertiser is charged based on the phone call activitythrough the assigned telephone number, as will be described.

FIG. 4 of the drawings shows a functional description of a system toimplement the method of FIG. 3 is shown. Referring to FIG. 4, the systemincludes account creation and management module 34, advertisementpublication module 36, call handling module 38, and billing module 40.In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or different modules maybe included in the system without departing from the invention.

The components of the account creation and management module 34, inaccordance with one embodiment, are shown in more detail in FIG. 5 ofthe drawings. Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the accountcreation and management module 34 includes a user interface module 44,an advertisement creation module 46, and a payment specification module48. The user interface module 44 includes logic to present informationto a user, and to receive information from the user. For example, in oneembodiment, the user interface module 44 causes a web page such as theweb page 112 of FIG. 8 to be displayed on a browser of a client.

The advertisement creation module 46 includes text creation logic 50.The purpose of text creation logic 50 is to allow an advertiser 16, oran agent working on behalf of an advertiser 16, to input text for anadvertisement which is ultimately created by the advertisement creationmodule 46. In order to enhance understanding of the present invention,for the remainder of this description, a local business enterprisecalled “Burt's Plumbing” will be used as an example of an advertiserthat may benefit from the techniques disclosed herein. Burt's Plumbingmay or not have direct connectivity to the network 14. If Burt'sPlumbing does not have direct connectivity to the network 14, then arepresentative of Burt's Plumbing (hereinafter “Burt”) will have to gainaccess to a computer that does have connectivity to the network 14 inorder to view the web page 112 of FIG. 8A. For example, Burt could use acomputer of a friend, a computer at a local library, etc. In anotherembodiment, a search operator, an Internet yellow page provider or othertype of publisher could perform or administer this activity on behalf ofBurt. The text creation logic 50 allows Burt to input for e.g. the text“Burt's Plumbing in San Francisco. Check out our special deals,” whichwill be included in the advertisement when it is rendered. The module 46also includes key word association logic 57 that allows Burt to inputcertain key words which are then associated with Burt's advertisement.The idea here is that when one of the clients 10 initiates a searchthrough the search engine 19 using a key word that matches one of thekey words entered by Burt, then Burt's advertisement will be displayedwithin a result of the search. Since Burt's Plumbing is not a nationaloperation or enterprise it is necessary to display Burt's advertisementto clients within a certain geographic area. Thus, the module 46includes location determination logic 54 that builds a geographiclocation association to Burt's advertisement. In one embodiment, thelocation determination logic 54 allows Burt to select a particulargeographic location of interest, say for example San Francisco, so thatBurt's advertisement will only be displayed to clients within the SanFrancisco area.

The module 46 also includes telephone number auto generation logic 56that automatically generates a unique telephone number, maps the uniquetelephone number to Burt's actual telephone number such that when theunique number is called, Bert's phone rings, and associates the uniquephone number with Burt's advertisement. In one embodiment, the telephonenumber that is automatically generated, may be a toll free number. Inone embodiment, the telephone number may be a local number with the samearea code as Burt's actual telephone number. In one embodiment, thetelephone number may be an easily recognizable 800 number, modified by aunique extension mapped to Burt's business telephone number. Forexample, in one embodiment, a number could be the number“1-800-YEL-PAGES-1234.” The 1234 portion of the 800 number is the uniqueextension that is mapped to Burt's telephone number so that when asearcher calls the number 1-800-YEL-PAGES-1234, the call will beautomatically routed to Burt's telephone as will be described in moredetail below.

In one embodiment, the advertisement creation module 46, automaticallyinserts the unique telephone number assigned to Burt directly intoBurt's advertisement. Alternatively, click to call logic 58 may beinvoked in order to generate a button, or a clickable telephone number,which is automatically inserted into Burt's advertisement, so that whenthe button or telephone number is selected or clicked by a useroperating a client 10, a telephone call is automatically initiated toBurt's telephone number.

The module 46 also includes on/off logic 60 that allows Burt, toselectively turn on or turn off an advertisement. Alternatively, theturn on/off logic 60 allows Burt to assign an active or an inactivestatus to a particular advertisement. When an advertisement is turnedoff or flagged as inactive, it is considered withdrawn, at leasttemporarily, from an advertisement campaign, and is therefore not madepublished e.g. through the search engine 19. Alternatively, onlyadvertisements that are turned on, or have a status of “active” arepublished in accordance with the techniques disclosed herein.

The module 46 includes smart connect logic 62 that allows automaticrouting of calls to various telephone numbers. For example, Burt mayinclude a primary telephone number, and one or more secondary telephonenumbers to be associated with his advertisement. Thus, in oneembodiment, the smart connect logic 62 first routes the call to Burt'sprimary telephone number, and if no connection is achieved, thencyclically through Burt's list of secondary telephone numbers, until aconnection is achieved.

The module 46 also includes arrange a call logic 64 that allows asearcher to input a time at which the searcher wishes to speak to Burt.The system then contacts Burt in order to arrange the call with thesearcher. Burt may be contacted in a variety of ways, for example bysending a facsimile to Burt, by sending an email to Burt, by telephoningBurt, etc. to alert him of the arranged telephone call. In alternativeembodiments, additional, less, or different logic may be included in theadvertisement creation module without departing from the invention.

The payment specification module 48, allows Burt to select a particularmodel and various parameters associated with billing. The module 48includes fiat fee logic 66 that presents an option to Burt through theuser interface module 44, which if selected will cause Burt to be billedon a flat fee basis for each telephone call received within a particularcategory, or subcategory. The module 48 also includes bid for placementlogic 68, that, through the user interface module 44, presents an optionto Burt to choose to be billed on a bid-for-placement basis, asdescribed above. The logic 68 supports proxy bids, and maximum/minimumbids.

The module 48 also includes spending level logic 70 that allows Burt tospecify daily/weekly/monthly spending levels. The specified spendinglevel essentially defines a budget per time period such that if thebudget is exceeded within a particular time period, then Burt'sadvertisement will be automatically flagged as inactive or turned off,for the remainder of the time period. Burt is notified of this activityby the system and Burt is given the option of reactivating hisadvertisement by adding additional funds to his account.

In one embodiment, the billing module 40 includes logic to automaticallywaive charges for leads (calls) from searchers/customers who have calledBurt recently. For example, if a customer calls on one day, and thendials the same number for a follow-up call a day later, the systemautomatically waives the charge for the second call since this lead hasalready been paid for. Thus, the advertiser (Burt) does not have to beconcerned about a customer using the advertised telephone number morethan once and causing multiple charges. In one embodiment, the system ofthe present invention may be configured to waive the charges on leadsfrom customers who have already called a particular advertiser within aspecified number of days. In alternative embodiments, additional, less,or different logic may be included in the without departing from theinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 6 of the drawings, the components of theadvertisement publication module 36, are shown in greater detail. Aswill be seen, the module 36 includes an advertisement rendering engine74, and an advertisement syndication engine 76. The purpose of theadvertisement rendering engine 74 is to automatically render Burt'sadvertisement on a particular channel. In some embodiments, theadvertisement rendering engine 74 causes a campaign management interface113 (see FIG. 8B of the drawings) to be displayed to an advertiser. Theinterface 113 allows the advertiser to choose a channel, e.g., SBC,QwestDex, Ingenio, and a category in which the advertisement is to beprovisioned/published. The interface 113 allows the advertiser tospecify the maximum bid amount that the advertiser is willing to pay toprovision the advertisement using the selected channel and category.FIG. 9 of the drawings shows an example of a web page 112 within whichincludes an advertisement rendered/provisioned in accordance with thetechniques described herein. In one embodiment, this publication channelmay be a web-based publication channel which is operated by an operatorof the system of the present invention.

Alternatively, the syndication engine 76 may be used to syndicate Burt'sadvertisement to a number of third parties that host publicationchannels selected by Burt. Thus, in one embodiment, the syndicationengine 76 may cause Burt's advertisement to be syndicated to third partysearch engines, Internet yellow pages, online directories, and othermedia.

As will be seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, the advertisement renderingengine 74 includes price per call logic 78, activity history logic 80,call status logic 82, connection success logic 84, manual indexing logic86, and random logic 88. Each of the logic components 78-88 controls aparameter that forms a basis of how Burt's advertisement is ultimatelyrendered. The price per call logic 78 causes Burt's advertisement to bepublished on a price per call basis. Thus, for example, if Burt iswilling only to pay a low amount for each call, then his advertisementwill be placed or ranked low down within a search result page orcategory of advertisers. Alternatively, if Burt is willing to pay a highprice per call, then his advertisement will be placed higher up in thesearch result page or category of advertisers. The table below shows howthe price per call logic 78 would rank or place advertisers within achannel based on a bid amount per call that an advertiser is willing topay:

Placement Advertiser (Bid Amount per call) 1 800-349-2398 ($3.88) 2866-324-3242 ($3.22) 3 800-323-5321 ($2.01)The activity history logic 80 analyzes the number of calls Burt receivedin a given time period, for example, the last day/week/month, and willrank Burt's advertisement within a display page based on the activityhistory. The call status logic 82, examines the status (active orinactive) of Burt's advertisement, and selectively publishes Burt'sadvertisement based on the status. The connection success logic 84measures a connection success rate for calls to the telephone numberassigned to Burt's advertisement and ranks Burt's advertisement within adisplay page based on the connection success rate. For example, ifBurt's telephone number enjoys a low connection success rate then thelogic 84 will cause Burt's advertisement to be ranked lowly within apublication page. The manual indexing logic 86 allows an operator tomanually index or rank Burt's advertisement within a publication page.The random logic 88 allows Burt's advertisement to be randomly ranked orplaced within a result page. In one embodiment, the ranking of Burt'sadvertisement within a display page may be based on any combination ofthe parameters controlled by the logic components 78-88, which may bedictated by a third party who employs the system. In alternativeembodiments, additional, less, or different logic may be included in theadvertisement rendering engine 74 without departing from the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 7 of the drawings, the components within the callhandling module 38 include a call routing engine 92, and a callmonitoring engine 94. As will be seen, the call routing engine 92includes redirect logic 96 to cause redirection of a telephone call tothe number assigned to Burt's advertisement. The redirection is to atelephone number specified by Burt during creation of the advertisementusing the advertisement creation module 46. The call routing engine 92also includes VoIP logic 98 to route a telephone call to or from aclient to a telephone number specified by Burt in the advertisementusing VoIP technology.

The call routing engine 92 may also include prompt logic 99 that causesa prompt to be played to a caller before routing of a telephone call toBurt's telephone number. In one embodiment, the prompt logic 99 plays aninformation prompt to the caller to inform the caller of Burt's actualtelephone number. Thus, the caller may, in future, call Burt directlyusing Burt's actual telephone number instead of the telephone numberassigned to Burt by the system. In such cases, Burt will not be billedby the system for telephone calls to his actual telephone number. In oneembodiment, the prompt logic 99 may also cause an information prompt tobe played to Burt to inform Burt of the source of the telephone call. Insome cases, the prompt logic 99 may cause an email or facsimile alert tobe automatically generated and sent to an advertiser, in order to informthe advertiser of the telephone number of the caller. An example of suchan email is shown in FIG. 10 of the drawings and is marked as referencenumeral 116. In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or differentlogic may be included in the call routing engine 92 without departingfrom the invention.

The call monitoring engine 94 includes call number logic 100 to trackthe number of calls generated in response to Burt's advertisement. Thecall monitoring engine 94 also includes Automatic Number Identification(ANI) logic 102 to identify the number of unique numbers of callers thatcall Burt, automatically. The call monitoring engine also includes calllength logic 104 that monitors the length of each call to Burt.Connection status logic 108 monitors whether a call is successful,whether an engaged or busy tone is encountered, or whether Burt simplydid not answer his telephone. Based on information supplied by logiccomponents 100-106, a report is compiled and may be viewed by Burt. Inone embodiment, the report includes a number of calls, the number ofcalls from unique telephone numbers, the telephone numbers of thecallers, the length of each call, and the number of calls that weresuccessful, for which an engaged to new as returned, or that wentunanswered. The report may be used by Burt in order to monitor theeffectiveness of an advertisement campaign, and to optimize thecampaign. In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or differentlogic may be included in the call monitoring engine 94 without departingfrom the invention.

In one embodiment, the advertising publication module may publish theadvertisement on a telephone-based advertising service. For example, theadvertisement can be delivered to a consumer through audio as part of avoice portal or telephone-based directory such as a 411 telephonedirectory.

Referring to FIG. 11 of the drawings, reference numeral 150 generallyindicates hardware that may be used to implement the above-describedsystem. The hardware 150 typically includes at least one processor 152coupled to a memory 154. The processor 152 may represent one or moreprocessors (e.g., microprocessors), and the memory 154 may representrandom access memory (RAM) devices comprising a main storage of thehardware 150, as well as any supplemental levels of memory e.g., cachememories, non-volatile or back-up memories (e.g. programmable or flashmemories), read-only memories, etc. In addition, the memory 154 may beconsidered to include memory storage physically located elsewhere in thehardware 150, e.g. any cache memory in the processor 152, as well as anystorage capacity used as a virtual memory, e.g., as stored on a massstorage device 160.

The hardware 150 also typically receives a number of inputs and outputsfor communicating information externally. For interface with a user oroperator, the hardware 150 may include one or more user input devices156 (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, etc.) and a display 158 (e.g., a CathodeRay Tube (CRT) monitor, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel).

For additional storage, the hardware 150 may also include one or moremass storage devices 160, e.g., a floppy or other removable disk drive,a hard disk drive, a Direct Access Storage Device (DASD), an opticaldrive (e.g. a Compact Disk (CD) drive, a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)drive, etc.) and/or a tape drive, among others. Furthermore, thehardware 150 may include an interface with one or more networks 162(e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wirelessnetwork, and/or the Internet among others) to permit the communicationof information with other computers coupled to the networks. It shouldbe appreciated that the hardware 150 typically includes suitable analogand/or digital interfaces between the processor 152 and each of thecomponents 154, 156, 158 and 162 as is well known in the art.

The hardware 150 operates under the control of an operating system 164,and executes various computer software applications 166, components,programs, objects, modules, etc. (e.g. a program or module whichperforms operations described above. Moreover, various applications,components, programs, objects, etc. may also execute on one or moreprocessors in another computer coupled to the hardware 150 via a network152, e.g. in a distributed computing environment, whereby the processingrequired to implement the functions of a computer program may beallocated to multiple computers over a network.

As discussed above, the syndicate engine 76 is used to syndicate Burt'sadvertisement to a number of third parties. Additional examples of thirdparties include companies such as Yahoo!®, MSN®, AOL®, and other similardemand partners. Often times, these demand partners (also referred toherein as syndication partners) receive a percentage of the advertisingrevenue generated via the pay-per-call method and system described,herein. Thus, as in the example of the table above, the advertiser ofplacement 1 pays $3.88 per call received to phone number 800-349-2398.Now suppose the call to the advertiser of placement 1, resulted from anadvertisement presented on a demand partner's website. The demandpartner would be entitled to a percentage of that $3.88. The presentmethod and system offers multiple embodiments for tracking, monitoring,and determining demand partner compensation.

In one embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 12, in process1202 an advertiser (also referred to herein as a merchant or listing) isgiven a separate telephone number for each separate demand partner thatis posting the merchant's advertisement using. As described herein, inmultiple embodiments, telephonic references, including telephone numbersand telephone extensions corresponding to a base telephone number, areassigned using the telephone number auto generation logic 56.

In one embodiment, the alias phone number is mapped to the advertiser'sactual phone number, and calls made to the alias are monitored in orderto track the respective demand partners. Therefore, in process 1204billing module 40 tracks and/or credits demand partners a percentage ofthe revenue charged to the advertiser (or collected from the advertiser)for calls placed to the advertiser's alias telephone numbercorresponding to the respective demand partner.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 13, inprocess 1302 an advertiser receives a single/base (the same) telephonenumber for a set of the demand partners. In process 1304, a separateextension is assigned to the advertiser for each of the separate demandpartners. More specifically, the separate demand partners list the sametelephone number for the advertiser, but also include an extensionunique to the respective demand partner. For example, a listing couldhave the number “(800) new-cars” for the set of demand partners, buteach demand partner posting the common telephone number for theadvertiser would also provide a separate extension corresponding to therespective demand partner (e.g., ext. 102 corresponding to the XYZsyndication partner, ext. 104 corresponding to the ABC syndicationpartner, etc.) In process 1306, billing module 40 tracks and/or creditsa demand partner a percentage of the revenue charged to the advertiser(or collected from the advertiser), for calls placed to the advertiservia the telephone extension corresponding to the respective demandpartner.

In an alternative embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 14,in process 1402 a demand partner uses a base telephone (i.e., a single)number for a set of advertisers. In process 1404, the demand partnerprovides a separate extension to each of the advertisers using the samebase number. For example, the demand partner could use the telephonenumber (800) Call XYZ for a set of advertisers, and provide theextension 102 for Joe's plumbing, and extension 104 for Carl's plumbing,etc. In process 1406, billing module 40 tracks and/or credits a demandpartner a percentage of the revenue charged to the advertiser (orcollected from the advertiser), for calls placed to the advertiser viathe base telephone number corresponding to the respective demand partnerand the unique telephone extension assigned to the advertiser at therespective demand partner.

According to another embodiment, a click-to-reveal method is proposed,as described in Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/552,124,entitled “A Method and Apparatus to Provide Pay-Per-Call PerformanceBased Advertising and Billing” filed on Mar. 10, 2004, hereinincorporated by reference. As described in the flow diagram of FIG. 15,in process 1502 a user is presented with an advertisement via a demandpartner's website. The advertisement does not show the advertiser'scomplete phone number, but instead contains a hyperlink to reveal theadvertiser's phone number, or the remaining portion of the telephonenumber. In process 1504, the Advertisement rendering engine 74 monitorsthe number of click-throughs to reveal the advertiser's number. In oneembodiment, it is assumed that each click-through from a demand partnerresults in a call to the respective advertiser. As a result, in process1506 billing module 40 tracks and/or calculates an amount to credit ademand partner based at least in part on a number of click-throughs toreveal an advertiser's telephone number.

In yet another alternative embodiment, a demand partner is provided witha click to call format. In one embodiment, as described in the flowdiagram of FIG. 16, in process 1602 in addition to listing a telephonenumber for an advertiser (or in place of listing a telephone number forthe advertiser) a link is provided by the demand partner to initiateestablishing a telephone connection between the viewer/customer and theadvertiser in response to the viewer/customer activating/selecting thehyperlink provided. In one embodiment, in process 1604, in response toactivating/selecting the hyperlink provided, the viewer/customer isprompted for their telephone number to establish the telephoneconnection with the advertiser. After the customer enters theirtelephone number, a telephone connection is established between thecustomer and the advertiser.

In yet another embodiment, if the viewer/customer has a VoIPcommunications device, VoIP logic 98 may connect the advertiser to theviewer/customer without the need for the customer/viewer to providetheir telephone number. The VoIP communications device includestelephony devices attached to the user's computer, as well as mobilecommunication devices, such as PDA's and cellular phones.

In the embodiment employing a click to call (for PSTN and VoiPconnections), in process 1604, a demand partner providing the click tocall option would be tracked/credited (i.e., a percentage of the chargeto the advertiser) each time a viewer/customer selects/activates a clickto call icon for the respective advertiser.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 17, inprocess 1702 an advertiser is given one telephone number for a set ofdemand partners. In process 1704, credits to the demand partners forcalls placed to the advertiser's listed telephone number are proratedbased on a number of page views for the advertiser's telephone numberlisting via the respective demand partners. For example, if 70% of theadvertiser's page views are accessed via demand partner ABC, and 30% ofthe advertiser's page views are accessed via demand partner XYZ, the ABCdemand partner would receive 70% and the demand partner XYZ wouldreceive 30% of the credits payable to the demand partners for callsplaced to the advertiser's listed telephone number.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 18, inprocess 1802 at least a first set of advertisers are given uniquetelephonic reference for each demand partner. One or more advertisersare each given one telephonic reference for a set demand partners.

In process 1804, a statistical sampling of calls to advertisers with theunique telephonic reference is generated. In one embodiment, thestatistical sampling represents a sampling of a percentage of calls toan advertiser (or set of advertisers) that originate from anadvertisement listed by a first demand partner compared to calls thatoriginate from the same (or similar) advertisement listed by otherdemand partners. In one embodiment, the samplings may be separated basedon a category of advertisers (e.g., restaurants, automobiles, etc.).

In process 1806, the samplings are used as a basis fortracking/crediting the demand partners with a percentage of the chargesto at least a set of the advertisers. Consider the example advertisers 1and 2 are given each give unique telephone, and 70% of the calls toadvertisers 1 and 2 are from telephonic references listed by partnerABC. Given the example, an assumption is made that 70% of the calls tothe advertisers using a common number among the demand partners, areoriginated from advertisements listed by partner ABC.

Therefore, in one embodiment, based on the statistical sampling, partnerABC would be credited for 70% of the calls placed to the advertisersusing a common number among the demand partners. In one embodiment,tracking/crediting the demand partners based on the statistical samplingcould also be applied to the advertisers using unique numbers among thedemand partners.

As described above, telephone-call tracking is used to determine thenumber of phone calls a particular party, or directory, has received. Itcan be useful for a variety of purposes. It is particularly useful inmeasuring the success of advertising. For instance, a telephonedirectory may offer advertising placements to its advertisers, such asplumbers. By tracking the number of phone calls a particularadvertisement has received, the directory can demonstrate the value ofits advertising to the advertiser.

Telephone-call tracking can be used to measure the effectiveness of avariety of advertising vehicles in addition to the physical yellow-pagesphone book. Newspaper classifieds can utilize call tracking, as cantelevision commercials that display phone numbers for consumers to call.By counting the number of telephone calls such advertisements receive,the campaign's effectiveness can be measured. This is of benefit both tothe advertiser and to the directory.

Telephone-call tracking can be also used as such in directories that areonline, such as an online yellow pages. Similarly, it can be used totrack the success of online search advertising, such as keywordadvertising.

Telephone-call tracking is particularly useful in pay-for-performanceadvertising systems, as described in several embodiments above. Inpay-for-performance systems, advertisers pay when an advertisementperforms. For instance, an advertiser can pay $1 each time a potentialcustomer clicks on an online-search advertisement. Similarly, inpay-per-call advertising systems, such as that covered in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/872,117, an advertiser's payments are linked tothe number of calls that advertiser receives. In such a pay per calladvertising system, call tracking is vital, since counting the number ofcalls received determines the amount that the advertiser must pay. Inone embodiment, not only are the number of calls received counted butalso the time of the call, since in one embodiment an advertiser may bidto pay a higher price per call in order to receive a more prominentplacement for their advertisement.

Not only is it important to track the number of calls and precise timeof calls, but the demand source at which the caller viewed theadvertisement may also be tracked. Online directories can have manydifferent external web sites through which they syndicate the sameadvertisers, and it is important to know from which web site the phonecall originated so that, in some cases, the directory can compensate theexternal web site for having brought customers. Provisional U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/560,926 outlines this case.

Tracking phone calls may include publishing a unique phone number thatis different from the advertiser's standard phone number. When a callerviews the advertisement, the unique phone number appears, and the callerdials it. The call coming in on the unique phone number is thenrerouted, using the call tracker's telephony equipment, to theadvertiser's standard phone number. In addition to rerouting the call,the call tracker also records that a call was made and the precise timeof the call. In a pay-per-call advertising system, this information canbe used to bill the advertiser for the call.

In cases where directories would also like to identify the demand sourceof the call, a single advertiser will have to be given multiple uniquephone numbers, one for each demand source where that advertiser appears.For instance, the advertisement of a single plumber might be displayedin two different online directories and three different online searchengines. In order to track which of these demand sources produced a callfrom a customer, the single plumber would have to be assigned fivedifferent unique telephone numbers. By monitoring which unique phonenumber was dialed, it can be determined which demand source deserves thecredit for producing the call.

FIG. 19 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 19, a database 1921 may contain the phone numbers of targetphone A 1931, target phone B 1933, . . . , target phone X 1939, etc.Typically, the target phones belong to the institutions, businesses,individuals, etc, which seek for publicity through various mediachannels, such as media channel A 1901 (e.g., web server), media channelB 1902 (e.g., WAP server), media channel C 1903 (e.g., short messagingservice center), media channel D 1904 (e.g., custom server), mediachannel E 1907 (e.g., cable television), media channel E 1908 (e.g.,news press), media channel G 1909 (e.g., radio station), etc.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone numbers of thetarget phones are not directly publicized over the media channels.Instead, encoded target phone numbers 1923 are used. Using the encodedtarget phone numbers 1923, a user cannot reach target phones directly.The encoded target phone numbers 1923 allow the association ofadditional information with the target phone numbers, such as the mediachannels used, special promotions, etc.

The encoded target phone numbers are delivered with content information(e.g., web page, WAP page, short message, television programs, newsarticles, etc.) to user devices, such as user device A 1911 (e.g.,cellular phone), user device B 1912 (e.g., personal digital assistant(PDA)), user device C 1913 (e.g., computer), user device D 1916 (e.g.,receiver), user device E 1918 (e.g., newspaper).

In one embodiment, the user devices are mobile devices, such as PDA,cellular phone, etc. The user devices obtain content information,including advertisements, through wireless communication connections,such as cellular communication links, wireless access points forwireless local area network, etc.

In one embodiment, a user device (e.g., a cellular phone, a computer, aPDA) can receive content information from multiple types of mediachannels (e.g., a web server, a W AP server, a SMSC, etc.).

In one embodiment, a user device is capable to dial a phone call (e.g.,automatically according to the encoded phone number embedded in thecontent information when a user selects the number). Alternatively, auser may manually dial a phone call using a separate phone, such as userphone S 1917 or user phone T 1919.

In one embodiment of the present invention, dialing at least a portionof an encoded target phone number connects the phone call to a phonedecoder and router 1925 first. According to the encoded target phonenumber dialed, the phone decoder and router 1925 determines thecorresponding target phone number using the database 1921 and connectsthe phone call to the corresponding target phone (e.g., one of targetphones 1931-1939) through the telephone network 1927.

Note the telephone network 1927 may be circuit switched, packageswitched, or partially circuit switched and partially package switched.For example, the telephone network may partially use the Internet tocarry the phone call (e.g., through VoIP). For example, the connectionbetween the user phone/device and the phone decoder and router 1925 maybe carried using VoIP; and the connection between the phone decoder androuter 1925 may be carried using a land-line based, circuit switchedtelephone network.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the information associatedwith the encoded target phone number, such as the media channel used toprovide the encoded target phone number to the users, is alsodecoded/retrieved using the database 1921. Thus, the informationassociated with the encoded target phone number can be tracked/stored.

In one embodiment, the phone decoder and router 1925 also determines thephone number of the user through Automatic Number Identification (ANT).ANI is a phone system feature that provides the billing number of theperson making the phone call.

The information about the caller, target phone number, the media channelused for delivering the contact information to the user can be used tobill the caller and/or the target phone number, and providecredit/compensation for the corresponding media channel.

For example, the advertisements for target phone numbers can be paid foron a pay per call basis. Monitoring and tracking the calls can be usedfor billing the advertisers. Alternatively, the users may be seeking thecontact information on a pay per call basis. Monitoring and tracking thecalls can be used for billing the users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the additional informationassociated with the encoded target phone number is used to providecredit/compensation to the operators of the corresponding media channelsthat are responsible for leading the users to the phone calls to thetarget phones. The system can further track the time and duration of thephone calls and other information, such as conditional promotions,electronic coupons, etc.

The information about the media channels that are responsible forleading the users to the phone calls to the target phones can also beuseful for the advertisers. The advertisers may wish to know which mediachannel is more effective in reaching users. For example, using thestatistic information about the media channels which successfully bringin phone calls, the advertisers may fine tune advertisement strategies.Further, different media channels may charge differently for theadvertisements; and the advertisers may bid differently on differentmedia channels for their advertisements.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has the same number of digits as a standard phone number (e.g., atypical telephone number assigned by a telephone company). Thus, dialingthe encoded target phone number is as easy as dialing the target phonenumber; and dialing the target phone number reaches the phone decoderand router 1925. In such an arrangement, a large number of encoded phonenumbers are generally required to differentiate the different targetphones and different media channels.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has more digits than a standard phone number. A first portion ofthe encoded target phone number has the same number of digits as astandard phone number to reach the phone decoder and router 1925 throughthe telephone network 1927; and a second portion of the encoded targetphone number is to be decoded by the phone decoder and router 1925. Forexample, the Dual Tone MultiFrequency (DTMF) decoder can be installed inthe phone decoder and router 1925 to detect the second portion of theencoded target phone number dialed at the user phone. The detected phonenumber can then be used to recover the target phone number.

When an encoded target phone number has more digits than a standardphone number, the additional digits can be implemented as a telephoneextension, or as an IVR system.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a single telephone number isused to reach the phone decoder and router 1925 for different targetphone numbers; and the portion of the encoded target phone number thatis used to reach the phone decoder and router 1925 is not used indetermining the information associated with the encoded target phonenumber.

Alternatively, multiple telephone numbers can be used to reach the phonedecoder and router 1925; and the entire encoded target phone number canbe used to determine the information associated with the encoded targetphone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers can have different numbers of digits. The advertisers may bearranged to bid for shorter encoded target phone numbers.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers are assigned only when needed for use in a media channel.

In one embodiment, a look-up table approach is used to encode theinformation. For example, the database 1921 keeps track of theinformation about the media channel and the target phone number (andother information, if any) for the encoded target phone number so thatthe encoded target phone number can be used as a key to retrieve thecorresponding information. Thus, it is not necessary to have apredetermined structure to encode the information about the mediachannels and the target phone number.

Alternatively, algorithms can be used to generate and encode targetphone number and associated information. For example, a predeterminedalgorithm may be used to encode different information in the targetphone number. For example, the target phone number may include a numberof field separated by “*” or “#”. Each of the field can be decodedseparately (e.g., from a separate look up table or a mapping algorithm)to determine the target phone number, identity of the media channel,etc.

For example, a set of parameters can be mapped from a string ofcharacters to a string of numerical digits as a part of the encodedtarget phone number; and the string of numbers can be mapped back intothe string of characters at the phone decoder and router 1925. When sucha mapping scheme is used, a look up table is not necessary. For example,an encoded target phone number may include a first portion that is thephone number of the phone decoder and router 1925, a second portion thatis the target phone number appended with a number mapped from anidentifier of the media channel. To prevent the user from dialing thetarget phone number directly, an encryption/scrambling scheme can beused to encode the second portion, which is decoded at the phone decoderand router 1925.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone decoder and router1925 determines the target phone number from the encoded target phonenumber dialed by the user and then dials the target phone number for theuser and joins the phone calls so that the user can talk to the targetphone.

In one embodiment of the present invention, users dial the encodedtarget phone numbers manually. A user can dial the encoded target phonenumber regardless the user device used and the media channel used.

Alternatively, in one embodiment, user devices can automatically dialthe encoded target phone numbers. For example, a cellular phone, acomputer or a PDA can dial a phone number using a Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) generator. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the encoded target phone numbers are presented in the contentinformation in a format such that when the user selects the phone numberthe user device (e.g., a cellular phone or a computer) dials the encodedtarget phone number for the user. The user selection may be in the formof an keyboard/keypad input, a touch pad input, a track ball input, amouse input, a voice command, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device initiates the phone call through aVoIP system when the user selects the encoded target phone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the user device dials thephone number for the user without the user manually pressing thesequence of the encoded target phone numbers. This greatly simplifiesthe process of make the phone call. Since a user device can dial a longsequence of number easily, a large number of digits can be used toencode the information without presenting any difficulties for theusers.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers are formatted so that the user device dials a first portion ofthe encoded target phone numbers to access the phone decoder and router1925, pauses for a short period of time for the phone decoder and router1925 to prepare for receiving the second portion of the encoded targetphone numbers, and then dials the second portion of the encoded targetphone numbers. Thus, the user device provides a user-friendly way ofdialing the encoded target phone numbers; and, making the phone call canbe as easy as making a “click” to access a web page.

In FIG. 19, the user device initiates the phone call. Alternatively, aphone router may be used to initiate phone calls both to the user device(or a separate user phone) and the target phone and then join the phonecalls to connect the user to the target phone. For example, when theuser selects the encoded target phone number, the selection of thetarget phone number is transmitted to the phone router with the userphone number.

The user phone number can be automatically determined through ANI, orthrough a user preference setting, or through an entry submitted withthe selection of the encoded target phone number.

In one embodiment, the selection of the encoded target phone number istransmitted to the corresponding media channel, which forwards therequest for making the phone call to a server (e.g., a web server)connected to the phone router. Alternatively, the content informationcan be formatted so that the selection is sent directly to the serverthat is connected to the phone router.

When the router starts the phone calls, the encoded target phone numbercan also include alphabetic characters (and/or other characters). Theserver and/or the phone router can decode the encoded target phonenumber to recover/retrieve the target phone number and other associatedinformation, such as the identity of the media channel that iscreditable for providing the encoded target phone number to user.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement presentedin a media channel is for a single advertiser. The end user selects anadvertiser according to the advertisements presented on behalf ofindividual advertisers; and the phone decoder and router connects theend user and the selected advertiser according to the encoded targetphone number individually publicized in the advertisement for theadvertiser. When the user views the online advertisements, the selectionof the advertiser is based on the online information.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement ispresented in a media channel for a group of advertisers, such as a groupof mortgage brokers. The advertisement contains an encoded target phonenumber which is reachable to the group of mortgage brokers. When theencode target phone number is selected or used, the selection of aparticular advertiser is performed at the phone decoder and router.

For example, a toll-free number is published to advertise mortgagebrokers in a particular geographic area. When a consumer dials thetoll-free number, the call is routed to the highest bidding mortgagebroker who is available in that market.

The phone decoder and router may select the target advertiser accordingto the bidding of the advertisers for the advertisement. The advertiserwho places the highest bid is the winner for the call. Alternative, orin combination, other types of selection criteria can also be used. Forexample, the user may be interested in advertisers in a particulargeographical region; and the geographical area of interest to the callercan be determined and used in selecting the target advertiser. Further,the user may be interested in a connection without excessive waitingtime. The status of the availability of the advertisers to answer thecall can be used in ranking the candidates for routing the call.

In general, an indicator used to rank the candidates may be a functionof a number of parameters, such as the bid for the advertisement, theprojected waiting time, an indicator showing a degree of matching to oneor more user requirements (e.g., geographic area, service type, etc.),advertisement budget, and others. Further details are provided below.

Offline Selection Examples

FIG. 20 shows a diagram of a system to make offline selection ofadvertisers according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 20, the advertisement 2001 is for an advertiser group T 2007which includes a number of different advertisers, such as advertiser A2021, advertiser B 2023, advertiser X 2029, etc. For example, theadvertisers of the group may offer the same types of services orproducts under similar terms and/or prices. Thus, a unifiedadvertisement can be presented on behalf of the entire group. Theadvertisement delivery 2005 can be in any of the forms known in the art.For example, the advertisement can be delivered through newspaper,radio, television, yellow book, listing sendee, web search engine, website banner, WAP, SMS, etc. The advertisement contains phone number M2003 for the users to initiate a phone call to reach one of theadvertisers.

In one embodiment, the advertised phone number (e.g., 2003) can alsocontain extension digits in addition to toll-free digits. In oneembodiment, the extension digits are used to convey additionalinformation such as geography, category, or the ability to tracespecific advertising creative (e.g., the call resulted from theadvertisement on the billboard on Second Street). In one embodiment,dialing of the extension digits (or some of the extension digits) isoptional; if the extension digits are not dialed, the call goes throughanyway; and the information corresponding to the extension digits is notcollected (or, similar information is extracted/extrapolated from otherdata sources, such as the phone number from which the call is initiated,etc.).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone number M 2003 isnot specifically for a particular advertiser at the time theadvertisement is presented. Thus, at the time the user initiates thephone call, the target advertiser is yet to be determined. The selectionof a particular target advertiser is after the initiation of the phonecall.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a switch/router 2000 at thephone number M is used to connect the users to the advertisersdynamically according to the information in the advertiser database2009. When a user, such as user A 2011, user B 2013, user S 2019, etc.,calls the phone number M 2003, the user is connected to theswitch/router 2000 first. With or without further user input, theswitch/router 2000 connects the call to an advertiser, such asadvertiser A 2021, advertiser B 2023, advertiser X 2029, etc. Theadvertiser is charged based on the telephone calls generated for theadvertiser. In one embodiment, the selection of the advertiser is madeat the switch/router after the user phone call is received.

Alternatively, information about the user phone number and the desire tomake the phone call according to the advertised phone number can betransmitted to the switch/router through a communication link other thana phone connection. For example, an email, a fax, an HTTP (HyperTextTransfer Protocol)/WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) request, etc.,can be used to submit the request for the phone connection. Theswitch/router then initiates the phone call to the user and selects thewinning advertiser for the phone call.

Note that the phone number M 2003 may also be encoded in a way so thatthe information about the media channel which provides the phone numberto the user can be decoded, as discussed above. For example, differentmedia channels may be assigned different phone numbers for reaching thesame group of advertisers through the switch/router 2000. According tothe phone number in the advertisement, the switch/router 2000 candetermine the media channel that is creditable for the delivery of thephone number to the users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a winning advertiser isselected according to the bidding for advertisement. The highest bidderwins the telephone call. The advertisers may adjust their bids anytimethrough any communication media to balance their chances to get a callresulting from the advertisement and the cost for the advertisement. Forexample, the advertisers may change their bids through a web site thatis connected to the advertiser database, through an email torepresentatives or automatic email gateways of the advertiser database,through a phone call, a fax, a letter, etc.

Alternatively, the set of highest bidders may be determined; and thecalls resulting from the advertisement are distributed to the set ofhighest bidders in frequencies that are proportional to their bidamounts. Alternatively, one from the set of highest bidders is furtherselected according other criteria, such as the geographic distance fromthe advertisers to the callers. Alternatively, other criteria, such asthe matching of geographic sendee area to the location of the callers,are used to select a set of candidates; and the candidates are thenranked according to the prices specified by the advertisers for the payfor performance advertisement, where the performance is measured interms of phone calls resulting from the advertisement.

In one embodiment, the availability of the advertisers to answer thecall is also considered. In one embodiment, if the top-ranking (e.g.,according to the bidding) advertiser receives a call and doesn't pick upafter a certain amount of time (e.g. 30 seconds), the call isautomatically routed to the second-highest ranking advertiser, and soon. In another embodiment, the missed call is routed to a humanconcierge who shepherds the call to the appropriate available advertiseror information source.

In one embodiment, the advertiser group includes subgroups ofadvertisers for different geographic areas. Indications of geographicareas of interest to the callers can be used in the selection process.

In one embodiment, the selection of the geographic area is made when theuser selects the phone number from the advertisements. The phone numberis encoded with geographic area information such that, when the phonenumber is dialed, the geographic area information can be automaticallydecoded from the phone number dialed; and the geographic areainformation can be used to rank the advertisers and/or eliminate theadvertisers that are not for the corresponding geographic areas.

In one embodiment, the geographic area information is determined fromthe location of the user phone. Alternatively, the user may specify thegeographic area in the phone call to the switch/router 2000, through anautomated system or through human concierges. Further, the user mayspecify requirements other than geographic areas for selecting thewinning advertiser. Further details are provided below.

FIG. 21 shows a diagram of a telephone connection system for offlineselection of advertisers according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 21, when a user calls an advertised telephone number, the phonecall is connected to the telephone receiving equipment 2101. Thetelephone receiving equipment 2101 is connected to the control center2105 to operate the telephone switching equipment 2103, whichselectively connects incoming phone connections 2121 from the users andoutgoing phone connections 2123 to the winning advertisers.

In one embodiment, the telephone receiving equipment 2101 and thetelephone switching equipment 2103 are circuit switched, includingPrivate Branch Exchange (PBX) and a dedicated voice network.Alternatively, the telephone receiving equipment 2101 and the telephoneswitching equipment 2103 may be package switched, including InternetProtocol (IP) based PBX, a data communication network and a gateway. Ingeneral, various telephonic techniques known in the art can be used.

When the telephone receiving equipment 2101 picks up a phone call, thecontrol center 2105 determines whether or not further information isneeded and/or can be obtained from the caller. For example, to determinea geographical area of interest, the control center 2105 can instructthe Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system 2107 to prompt the caller tokey in the desired zip code. In one embodiment, Interactive VoiceResponse (IVR) is a telephony technology in which one may use atouch-tone telephone to interact with a database to acquire informationfrom or enter data into the database without the help of a humanconcierge.

Further, the control center may direct the IVR system 2107 to prompt thecaller to specify further criteria based on the advertiser information2140. For example, when the phone number is for a group of mortgagebrokers, the user may be directed to select loan sizes, loan types, etc.

Alternatively, the control center 2105 may instruct the geographic arealocator 2109 to determine a geographic area from which the call isinitiated. For example, the geographic area locator may use the cellularposition system to determine the location of a cellular phone, or use asatellite/pseudolite position system to determine the location of amobile device. Pseudolites are ground-based transmitters signals similarto a Global Positioning System (GPS). Pseudolites are useful insituations where signals from an orbiting satellite might beunavailable, such as tunnels, mines, buildings or other enclosed areas.A satellite/pseudolite signal receiver may determine its location andtransmit the location through the cellular phone to a cellularcommunication system, or transmit the received signals to a locationserver which computes the location.

A cellular communication system may also determine the location of acellular phone. For example, the location of a cellular phone can bedetermined using a method known as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) inwhich the reception times of a cellular signal from a mobile station aremeasured at several base stations to determine the position of thecellular phone. Alternative, a method known as Advanced Forward LinkTrilateration (AFLT), or Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), canbe used, which measures the reception times of cellular signals fromseveral base stations to the cellular phone. Alternatively, the cellularsite in which the mobile device can communicate to a based station canbe used to determine a rough position of the cellular phone. In general,any method used by a cellular phone provider to get location information(e.g., for emergency service) can be used.

The control center 2105 may also instruct the Automatic NumberIdentification (ANI) unit 2111 to determine the phone number of theincoming call and look up the geographic area information from thedatabase for the phone numbers.

Alternatively, the control center 2105 may connect the phone calltemporally to a human concierge who can help the caller to specify aselection criterion (or criteria).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control center 2105 usesa number of different types of information to select the winningadvertiser based on the advertiser information 2140.

In one embodiment, the advertiser information 2140 include theidentities of the advertisers (e.g., 2141), the geographic areas (e.g.,2143) of the advertisers, the phone number(s) (e.g., 2145) of theadvertisers, the placement bids (e.g., 2147) of the advertisers, theavailability statuses (e.g., 2149) of the advertisers, etc. In analternative embodiment, more or less fields can be used for theadvertiser information.

The availability may include the information about the projected waitingtime for a caller to get through. The availability may also depend onthe advertisement budget specified by the advertiser. For example, theadvertiser may specify the advertisement budget in terms of the maximumnumber of calls in a day, the minimum time intervals between two calls,working hours, etc.

In one embodiment, in view of the caller's implicitly or explicitlyspecified requirements (e.g., the geographic area, the loan type, loansize, etc., if there is any), the control center ranks the advertisersaccording to the current advertiser information. For example, thecontrol center may eliminate the advertisers that are not available ordo not meeting the caller's requirements and sort the remainingcandidates according to the bid for advertisement. The highest bidder inthe remaining candidates is the winner. Alternatively, other types ofsorting criteria can be used. For example, an indicator of the degree ofmatching between the caller's requirements can be weighted according tothe advertisement bid to generate an indicator for selecting the winner.

After the winning advertiser is determined, the control center 2105 caninstruct the telephone switching equipment 2103 to connect the incomingphone call to the phone number of the winning advertiser. The controlcenter 2105 then creates a record entry in connection records 2130 toindicate the connection made for the advertiser. For example, a recordentry may include information such as the from phone number 2131, the tophone number 2133, the time the connection is made 2135, the duration ofthe connection 2137, the media channel 2139 responsible for deliveringthe advertisement to the caller, the advertisement bid 2132 of theadvertiser at the time of the connection, etc. Other information, suchas whether or not a human concierge is involved, can also be recorded.In an alternative embodiment, more or less fields can be used for theconnection records.

In one embodiment, the recorded connection information is used togenerate invoice to bill the advertisers. An account of the advertisermay be debited automatically for the connection. Alternatively, apayment for the advertisement is collected automatically through anelectronic system for the connection.

FIGS. 22-24 show flow diagrams of making and tracking phone connectionsaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

In FIG. 22, operation 2201 receives a telephone call to a telephonenumber publicized in an advertisement for a group of advertisers.Operation 2203 selects an advertiser from the group of advertisers afterreceiving the telephone call. Operation 2205 connects the telephone callto a telephone number of the selected advertiser. Operation 2207 storesinformation about the telephonic connection to bill the advertiser basedon telephonic connections made to the selected advertiser for theadvertisement. In one embodiment, the geographic area of interest to thecaller is determined, which is used in selecting the advertiser as thereceiver of the telephone call.

In FIG. 23, after operation 2301 receives a telephone call to atelephone number advertised for a group of advertisers, operation 2303determines the telephone number of the caller through Automatic NumberIdentification (ANI). Operation 2305 determines a geographic areaassociated with the phone number (e.g., look up using the telephonenumber of the caller, obtain location information from a cellularpositioning system, a satellite/pseudolite positioning system, etc.).Operation 2307 automatically selects an advertiser from the group ofadvertisers according to the geographical area and the bidding of theadvertisers for the advertisement. Operation 2309 determines a telephonenumber of the advertiser. Operation 2311 routes the telephone call tothe telephone number of the advertiser. Operation 2313 charges theadvertiser for the advertisement that results in the telephone call tothe advertiser.

For example, in one embodiment, the system looks at the phone number(obtained through ANI) of the incoming call and automatically routes itto the highest bidding mortgage broker in the geographic area of thephone number.

In FIG. 24, after operation 2401 receives a telephone call to atelephone number publicized in an advertisement for a group ofadvertisers, operation 2403 prompts the caller through an automaticInteractive Voice Response (IVR) System for a zip code of interest.

If operation 2405 determines that the caller indicates a need for thehelp of a human concierge, operation 2407 connects the caller to a humanconcierge to receive caller specified selection requirements (e.g.,geographical area of interest, loan type, loan size, etc.).

Operation 2409 selects an advertiser from the group of advertisersaccording to a geographical area of interest to the caller and thebidding of the advertisers for the advertisement.

If operation 2411 determines that the advertiser has more than oneoffice, operation 2413 determines an office of the advertiser based onthe geographical area of interest to the caller.

Operation 2415 routes the telephone call to the office of theadvertiser.

For example, in one embodiment, a customer is prompted on the telephoneby an automatic IVR to key in the desired zip code. The system thenroutes the call to the highest bidding mortgage broker in thatgeographic area.

For example, in one embodiment, the customer is connected to a humanconcierge who asks for the desired geographic area and routes the callto the highest bidding mortgage broker in the desired geographic area.

For example, in one embodiment, a large national account which has localregional offices around the country, geography is ascertained using oneof the above discussed methods and the call is then routed to the localoffice that best matches the geography.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an advertisement is for onesingle advertiser that has a number of different locations. Theselection of the location of the advertiser and the corresponding targetphone number is made at the time a phone call is received at aswitch/router; and the selection may be automatic based on ANI orlocation information determined from a positioning system, orsemi-automatic based on user interaction with an automated IVR, ornon-automatic based on the user interaction with a human concierge.Alternatively, the advertisement can be for a group of differentadvertisers, some of which have different locations/branches in a largegeographic area (e.g., a country, around the world, etc.).

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of theinvention, may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause the computerto perform operations necessary to execute elements involving thevarious aspects of the invention. Moreover, while the invention has beendescribed in the context of fully functioning computers and computersystems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the variousembodiments of the invention are capable of being distributed as aprogram product in a variety of forms, and that the invention appliesequally regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices,floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, optical disks (e.g.,Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMs), Digital Versatile Disks,(DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type media such as digitaland analog communication links.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that the variousmodification and changes can be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit of the invention as set forth in theclaims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regardedin an illustrative sense rather than in a restrictive sense.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method comprising: receiving, via a communicationnetwork, a received telephone call to a single advertisement telephonenumber associated with a single advertisement associated with aplurality of competing advertisers; identifying a geographic arearelated to an origin of the received telephone call; selecting, via acomputing device, a first advertiser from the plurality of competingadvertisers, based at least in part on the identified geographic area;and identifying, via the computing device, a separate previouslyassigned advertiser telephone number of the first advertiser;connecting, via the computing device, the received telephone call to thepreviously assigned advertiser telephone number of the first advertiserto track a telephone connection to the first advertiser established fromthe received telephone call to the single advertisement telephone numberprovided in the single advertisement;
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: charging, via the computing device, the first advertiser apredetermined fee for the single advertisement in response to connectingthe received telephone call, placed to the single advertisementtelephone number provided in the single advertisement, to the previouslyassigned advertiser telephone number of the first advertiser.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the first advertiser from the plurality ofcompeting advertisers, is selected, at least in part, based on theidentified geographic area and a respective bid of each of the pluralityof competing advertisers for the advertisement.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the first advertiser is charged a fee in accordance with therespective bid of the first advertiser for the single advertisement. 6.The method of claim 2 claim 2, further comprising: determining atelephone number of the received telephone call via an automatic numberidentification service; wherein the geographic area related to theorigin of the received telephone call is determined based on thetelephone number of the received telephone call.
 7. The method of claim2, further comprising: receiving location information from a cellularcommunication system for the received telephone call; wherein thegeographic area related to the origin of the received telephone call isdetermined based on the location information.
 8. The method of claim 2,further comprising: receiving location information from a positioningsystem for the received telephone call; wherein the geographic arearelated to the origin of the received telephone call is determined basedon the location information.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein:receiving a zip code in the received telephone call through aninteractive voice response system; and the geographic area related tothe origin of the received telephone call is determined based on the zipcode.
 10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: routing thereceived telephone call to a human operator; wherein the geographic arearelated to the origin of the received telephone call is determined bythe human operator.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least oneadditional selection requirement is determined by the human operator,such that the first advertiser of the plurality of competing advertisersis selected based, at least in part, on the identified geographic areaand the at least one additional selection requirement.
 12. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: receiving a voice indication of ageographic area in the received telephone call; wherein the geographicarea related to the origin of the received telephone call is determinedbased on the voice indication.
 13. The method of claim 2, wherein thefirst advertiser has a plurality of offices, and the identifying theseparate previously assigned advertiser telephone number of the firstadvertiser includes determining a respective office of the plurality ofoffices based on the geographic area related to the origin of thereceived telephone call, such that the separate previously assignedadvertiser telephone number is associated with the respective office.14. A system comprising: at least one processor; and memory storinginstructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to:receive, via a communication network, a received telephone call to asingle advertisement telephone number associated with a singleadvertisement associated with a plurality of competing advertisers;identify a geographic area related to an origin of the receivedtelephone call; select a first advertiser from the plurality ofcompeting advertisers, based at least in part on the identifiedgeographic area; and identifying a separate previously assignedadvertiser telephone number of the first advertiser; connect thereceived telephone call to the previously assigned advertiser telephonenumber of the first advertiser to track a telephone connection to thefirst advertiser established from the received telephone call to thesingle advertisement telephone number provided in the singleadvertisement.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the memoryadditionally stores instructions configured to instruct the at least oneprocessor to: charging the first advertiser a predetermined fee for thesingle advertisement in response to connecting the received telephonecall, placed to the single advertisement telephone number provided inthe single advertisement, to the previously assigned advertisertelephone number of the first advertiser.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the first advertiser from the plurality of competingadvertisers, is selected, at least in part, based on the identifiedgeographic area and a respective bid of each of the plurality ofcompeting advertisers for the advertisement.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the first advertiser is charged a fee in accordance with therespective bid of the first advertiser for the single advertisement. 18.A tangible machine readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform amethod, the method comprising: receiving, via a communication network, areceived telephone call to a single advertisement telephone numberassociated with a single advertisement associated with a plurality ofcompeting advertisers; identifying a geographic area related to anorigin of the received telephone call; selecting a first advertiser fromthe plurality of competing advertisers, based at least in part on theidentified geographic area; and identifying a separate previouslyassigned advertiser telephone number of the first advertiser; connectingthe received telephone call to the previously assigned advertisertelephone number of the first advertiser to track a telephone connectionto the first advertiser established from the received telephone call tothe single advertisement telephone number provided in the singleadvertisement;
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: charging,via the computing device, the first advertiser a predetermined fee forthe single advertisement in response to connecting the receivedtelephone call, placed to the single advertisement telephone numberprovided in the single advertisement, to the previously assignedadvertiser telephone number of the first advertiser.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the first advertiser from the plurality of competingadvertisers, is selected, at least in part, based on the identifiedgeographic area and a respective bid of each of the plurality ofcompeting advertisers for the advertisement.
 21. The method of claim 20,wherein the first advertiser is charged a fee in accordance with therespective bid of the first advertiser for the single advertisement.